Fall sports are in full swing and athletes are working every day to help their teams. However, what many do not see is winter sports teams practicing as well. The men’s basketball team has participated in workouts before school during the week, and many of these have been attended by college coaches.

These coaches watch the practice, looking for talented players who could help their team in the future.

Head Coach Mr. Jason Delaney is taking advantage of this opportunity, which was an annual event for the team pre-Covid-19, as it did not happen last year. He said, “It’s usually a part of our September and October workouts, but it wasn’t allowed last year due to Covid.” 

The attendance of college coaches at practices provides a chance for the players to be noticed outside of a game situation. Last year’s players, and especially seniors, did not get this opportunity. Delaney said, “It definitely hurt that Senior Class and their recruitment.” He also noted that there were other factors that contributed to the lack of recruitment, such as the inability of college coaches to attend AAU games due to lockdown. 

But this year’s players are rising to the occasion. Delaney said, “We talk a lot about embracing opportunities, and it’s one of the main reasons people come to play Cathedral basketball.” He explained that the players have the stage and it can change their life if they take advantage.  

In fact, one player has already done so. On Sept. 22, senior Jaxon Edwards committed to play basketball at Murray State University, and the Racers were one of the teams that had coaches attending practice. Delaney said he believes that seeing the coaches at his practice assisted Edwards as he made his decision, saying, “I think it helped because they brought their whole staff up for one of the workouts. It shows a recruit how serious (the college coaches) are about you.” 

Murray State is just one of many colleges, ranging from high level Division I to NAIA, that have shown up to these morning workouts. Most of these schools are from the Midwest, but a few coaches made their way to the Hill from down South. Coaches from Clemson, Virginia, Kansas State, Appalachian State, and even Nevada have been in attendance. 

With all of these college representatives at workouts, one would think that the players, especially the freshmen and sophomores, would be intimidated and thrown off of their games. But according to Delaney, this is not the case. He said, “I’m not sure how much our players even pay attention (to the college coaches) during our workouts. We try to keep them engaged and on task.” 

But how do these coaches know when to come to workouts, and how does the Cathedral coaching staff know who wants to attend? Delaney said there is a good level of communication between him and his staff and the college coaches. He added, “They have players on their radars, so they reach out and ask for the workout schedule. Coach (Mr. Aundrey) Wright and I have a lot of contacts in the college world too, so we reach out to them and ask them to come in.” 

Delaney expressed that this provides an amazing opportunity for his players. He said, “If (the players) can’t be motivated to take advantage of their dream, then they’re in the wrong place.”